Digimon Tamers: The next Chapter
by Ldybg
Summary: There will be LGBT themes in this story. This story is set in the season 3 universe. It follows Bearmon and his tamer. It is set in 2019, around 20 years later. The two have not seen each other since they handled D-Reaper’s expansion in the United States. They went on to biomerge to Marsmon. Though they didn’t know each other, all of the tamers worked together to defeat D-Reaper
1. Prologue-Chapter1

(This story is set in the season 3 universe. It follows Bearmon and his tamer. It is set in 2019, around 20 years later. The two have not seen each other since they handled D-Reaper's expansion in the United States. They went on to biomerge to Marsmon. Though they didn't know each other, all of the tamers worked together to defeat D-Reaper that day. So when it was finally complete, Bearmon went back to the digital world, just like the other digimon.)

Prologue

It was bound to happen eventually. Evolution. Like all life, digimon are constantly evolving. However, I've found a way to make them even stronger. I've created a new casing, a more powerful shell. By placing the code of a digimon into this shell, their power is limitless albeit unpredictable. The unfortunate side effect is that taking the source code results in the original copy's deletion. It's a small price to pay for progress. I must perfect this next link in our evolution. When I am finished, the worlds will be mine. The humans will be next, then we can all coexist, as supreme beings. With me leading the way, our futures are guaranteed to be fruitful...

Chapter 1

Bearmon looked down from the cliff, watching the oddity running through the mist of the digital plain. It was shaped like a raptor, but was polygonal, glowing with every shade of color possible. The group protecting the Digital World had take to calling these creatures "Nonmon", being that they weren't digimon. They didn't know what they were.

Renamon, who Bearmon was working with jumped out, attacking with a barrage of diamonds. It turned on her, roaring at the incoming attack, all of the diamonds disappearing in the sound waves. Renamon landed holding the gaze of her opponent.

"Going somewhere?" She asked, preparing to strike. She glanced up to Bearmon, making sure he'd made it. Bearmon wondered if she was concerned about how this was going to go. But he knew better. Probably wanted him out of the way.

Bearmon looked behind him, guarding the path from the digital world to the world of humans, the red lighting of the portal seemed to carry a hum in it. He turned back in time to see Renamon and the creature clash. He looked down on the battle, struggling to not intervene. But Renamon was the better fighter between himself and her. She was used to the hunt and the takedown. He was best in closed spaces, the portal being housed in a cave, that would be his expertise if it came to it.

Renamon slashes our with her claws, the creature leaping back to escape her attack. She advanced again, kicking at the creature as her paws shine a dangerous shade of white. "Power paw!" She yells, making contact with it. It doesn't phase the raptor like creature. In a flash, it snaps its jaws around, clamping its mouth around Renamon's leg. She screams as it flings her away. Just as fast, it's heading toward the cliff. It jumps, landing at the base. Looking up, it charges its legs, then advances straight up the face speeding toward Bearmon. He backs up, not wanting to get thrown from the cliff. With Renamon nowhere to be seen, he knows it's up to him. He can't get knocked out of the way. He plants himself in front of the cave.

The nonmon flies into the air, a blur as it rockets upward before falling to the ground. It lands before Bearmon, glaring at him, taunting him with its gaze. Then it does something he had never heard a nonmon do. Speak.

"Mooooove….o…..r die……" it growls, in a whisper...


	2. Chapter2

Bearmon put a foot behind him to steady himself. He took a deep breath before grinning at the nonmon.

"I'm not a real ultimatum type of mon."

It growls at him in annoyance. "De...ath...itis..." another whisper. It readies itself to charge the digimon. As it pushes off of one foot, Renamon reappears, attacking the nonmon. "Diamond storm!". The attack is a direct hit, barely phasing her target.

Bearmon doesn't hesitate. He charges forward, putting all his weight into his attack. "Bear roll!" He cries. His attack connects head on, pushing it back. Renamon attacks again, kicking its side with her shining power paws.

The nonmon snarls as it tries to regain its footing. The two digimon rush it, Bearmon with his rolling fist and Renamon with her palm strike. The nonmon falls over the cliff, leaving the two panting digimon watching as it does.

They look to each other, both noticing how much stronger this one was.

"It's getting worse." Bearmon says, looking at the newly exposed portal. "This one could talk too."

Renamon walks to the cliff. "We need to figure out what they are." She peaks over the edge, "We're not strong enough to hold them off at this rate. If Rika..." she trails of.

Bearmon looks down, his back still to her. "I know how you feel. I miss Matt too." He sighs. "But we have to stay behind and keep the renegades in."

Renamon takes a breath, "I know, but we're str-" she's cutoff. The nonmon hurdles up the cliff, knocking Renamon aside. Bearmon turns just in time to take a shot to the chest. The nonmon pushes through, taking Bearmon through the portal with him. They struggle, fighting one another, grappled in a vicious ball. They come out the other side of the portal, being flung apart in opposite directions. Bearmon loses sight of the nonmon before landing hard on his side.

Bearmon stumbles to his feet, looking around. It looks familiar. Concrete, lights, car horns blaring, data fog. They're in the Human World now. Bearmon looks around. If they came out here, he has an edge. He's digidestined, his partner has to be here too. He can feel it!

The nonmon roars, stepping towards Bearmon. With a jagged cackle, "No more partner. No time to find a digidestined." It lets out a chuff. This is about to get ugly.


	3. Chapter3

The beast came barreling at Bearmon. But he had an advantage. He knew what the whoosh behind him was. Bearmon jumped straight up as a silver car plowed through the fog slamming right into the nonmon, sending it flying back 10 feet, rolling and skidding about about 10 more.

Bearmon lands on the hood of the car. Turning to check on the driver. He waves, saying "Sorry" in a muffled voice, as if she could hear him through the windshield. She stared at him in shock, unmoving, mouth agape. Bearmon jumped off the hood of the car, to the ground. He slouched a little, realizing that the driver was the only human here. She wasn't who he was looking for.

"I'm not giving you time to get up." He says, stalking toward the downed nonmon. He starts to glow, building the energy for his attack. He lunges forward, attacking the downed enemy. "Beast attack!"

The nonmon is up in a flash. It headbuts, stopping the attack before it can grow. It whips its head up and blast Bearmon with fire, knocking him back. "Not...done...kill...you..." It growls. Everything happened so fast, Bearmon didn't even remember hitting the ground.

The data fog caused by the digital field seemed to be getting thicker. Bearmon was stunned, trying to get his wits about him again. He heard the car door open, then felt a hand on his chest. "Are you okay?" The woman asks, her voice fuzzy and distant. He looks up, her face blurry. There was something familiar about her voice. He couldn't place it.

"Oh...y-yeah. Part of the job I guess. But don't worry, I'm like the Duragizer chinchilla. I just keep charging and charging." He smiled at the same time as her before getting up. "You should take cover, I got this guy." He wipes his mouth with his forearm, trying to look cool. "Thanks for your help." He charges forward, before she can say another word, meeting the prismatic raptor in another grappling match. As they separate, the nonmon tries to blast him again. Bearmon is faster this time. The ground where he stood a moment ago a crater.

When Bearmon lands, he immediately rockets forward, putting his weight into another bear roll. He doesn't stop there, he follows it up with an upper cut, jumping into the air as he does. The nonmon's chin flies up from the impact and then snaps back down almost as fast. Bearmon hadn't landed, before he even had a foot on the ground, another blast that was even stronger.. He flew backwards, crashing through a window and rolling on a concrete floor. However, he didn't feel the impact with the window. Something had wrapped around him as he was knocked into the unfinished shop, softening the impact.

His grunt echoed through the incomplete building as he tried to get up. He fell down, losing his balance instantly. He looked back to see the woman from the car had saved him from directly crashing through the glass. She smiled as she opened her eyes groggily bragging "You're welcome." She slowly starts to lift herself up.

It took Bearmon by surprise. A complete stranger helping him. "You shouldn't have done that." He scolds, "I can handle this." She grins, arguing "Yeah, looked that way. You definitely need help." Her shoes scrape against the ground as she pulls herself up.

"I thought I would have it…" he sighs, "But I guess not." He starts for the entrance. Fog rolling in through the broken window, the noises of the chaos outside creeping in. "Please stay in here, I really don't want you getting hurt." He says, turning his head to the side while he's walking away.

Tears start welling in the woman's eyes.. She understood why he didn't recognize her. "Are you seriously going to just walk away from me you big dumb bear!?" She yells. The verbal attack stops him in his tracks, he's compelled to turn around. Her tone sounded so familiar.

"It's not safe for you." He answers.

The woman responds by lifting her arm, a blue and silver device in the palm of her hand. "Then I guess we'll just have to work together then….like old times."

Bearmon stood in shock. He knew that digivice. It was one he'd seen hundreds of times. It was his partner's digivice. "How did you…" he's stifled by the pure shock of what just happened. After a few heavy breaths, he finally asks, "Matt?"

The woman smiles at him. "It's Madi now."


	4. Chapter4

Bearmon was the one in shock now. This didn't make sense. Humans couldn't just change, could they?

"Are you okay?" The woman, Madi asks. Bearmon doesn't reply. "Bearmon?" Her voice shakes, fear in her tone. "I'm sorry…."

The moment drags on. Despite a few seconds passing, it seemed a few hours had past. Bearmon looks away, breaking the link. "That's not possible." He answers, his voice sounding small.

Madi takes a step forward , but stops when she sees Bearmon flinch. "Bearmon, I swear. It's me!" She assures him. "When you left, I fell into a depression. I started to become angry, scared, anxious. I was a wreck." Her hands are shaking at the memories. "I missed you….but there's was so much more going on. I thought that if I could find you it would all get better. I couldn't and it didn't. I gave up." She sniffs, her eyes welling up now. "I stood on that cliff you and I used to go to. Up by the sign. I looked down and thought 'why not end it here'. I was ready to die. I heard a voice behind me that told me to stop. But when I turned around, no one was there, I chased it because I thought it was you."

Bearmon looks up at her, the mention of ending her life snapping him out of it.

She continues, "Someone saw the whole thing. Saw me start to step off. They told my Dad. He got me into therapy immediately. That's when they discovered what was causing all of my anxiety. I have a condition. My brain and body didn't match." She reaches her right hand up, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I transitioned after lots of therapy, the anxiety went away when I started. I became who I was meant to be. The person who was hiding deep down. I thought….hoped ….you would be proud of me for that."

It was that moment that Bearmon understood. It all clicked for him. "You…..digivolved. All on your own, without me." He smiles. "It really is you. I know that. I think I knew the whole time." In an instant, the two ran to each other and embraced. Madi kneeling as she did. They squeezed each other so tight, the closest to a bear hug they could manage. When they finally parted, they looked into one another's eyes. "I missed you so much!" They said at the same time, laughing. Tears were streaming down Madi's cheeks.

A loud crunch from outside. The broken window letting in the loud roar. The tamer and digimon looked at one another. Madi wiped away the tears, "You ready for this?" She reaches into her hoodie pocket to retrieve her card case.

Bearmon smirked. "I am." He rolls his shoulders. "That thing isn't"

They both head for the entrance, Madi clipping her case on her belt. They look at each other one last time, then walk through the space where the window was. The ever growing fog covered everything now. The digital field did not make finding the nonmon easy. Suddenly, it charges, going for Madi. Bearmon jumps in the way, grabbing the nonmon by the neck to stop it. It lifts its head and tries to fling the digimon off of it. While he didn't take it down, he did get it to veer off course, missing Madi.

That's when she went into action. "Digi modify!" She yells, swiping a card through her digivice, "Power activate!"

Bearmon lets go of the nonmon, flying up in the air. But he shoots straight down at the beast, his fist reared back. "Bear first!" He yells, bringing his augmented attack down. The nonmon crumbles under his attack, its head meeting the pavement. That's not the end though. Bearmon jumps back, charging up another attack. He heaved forward with a bear roll, the creature taking a direct him, it flies back. Rolling to a stop. Chunks start to fall from it now, degradation starting in.

"Nice shot Buddy!" Madi calls out. She watches intensely. Ready to call out or swipe another card.

Bearmon smiles, still facing the nonmon. This is all how it should be now. The two of them working together. He stops as it starts to get up. He's not close enough to charge it and get there on time. He relaxes as much as he can, wanting to be able to react as quickly as possible.

As it gets to its feet, the nonmon looks dented in from the parts of it missing. "Not….done…..yet….." it sneers. A horrible, loud shriek comes from it as it seems to be absorbing the data fog. It's healing itself, but it's getting bigger too, stronger.

Bearmon's hand go to his ears, same with Madi. They look on as the creature towers over the two of them. It swings it's tail, the two of them in the path. Bearmon dashes to Madi, tackling her to get her out of the way. They narrowly miss getting hit. "You okay?" He asks.

"Yeah, you?" She starts looking through her cards.

The two of them stand, as the beast manages to finish turning. He rears down, letting out a roar.

Bearmon charges after it, jumping in the air to go for its head. He tears his fist back, but gets swatted away by the creatures snout. The fight has changed. Even with Madi, he's not strong enough to handle this. As he falls through the air, he manages to flip, landing sideways against a tree. He pushes of, landing on the ground. He makes a dash, changing strategies and shooting for the monster's legs. He has to fight. He has to protect his best friend.

Madi finds the card she's looking for, playing right into Bearmon's ideas. "Digi modify!" She cries out "Goliath, activate!" As he launches his attack, Bearmon starts to grow. Hitting the creature head on. It topples as Bearmon rolls through. He stands, reaching just a little bit under the nonmon's height.

"That ought to even things out!" she yells. Bearmon looks down, nodding. It was a surprise to him, she didn't have this card before. She didn't have a lot of cards before. She really did miss him. Madi had in fact prepared. She knew her best friend would come back some day, she wanted to be ready, just in case.

Bearmon rushes the nonmon, aiming to end this fight. "Beast attack!" He yells, passing right through the nonmon. His attack made a direct hit. He turns, as it starts to stand. He readies his fists, not wanting to be off guard. The nonmon is standing, but not all the way. It's slouching, panting. It lets out a low growl and starts toward the digimon. As its foot comes down, it shatters, leaving it leaning on the stump. "I'm…sorry…." It says. "I……trie….tri…tried….to…" before it can finish its sentence, the rest of it shatters, fading into the fog.

Bearmon looks down to Madi, who's still looking at the space the nonmon was standing moments ago. "That wasn't the same." Her voice sounds horrified. She looks up at Bearmon, who's starting to shrink back down now. "What was that thing?" She asks.

Bearmon shrugs, "We don't know." He answers, "We've taken to calling them 'Nonmon'. They're not like digimon. They're something else."

Madi walks toward Bearmon,who's almost normal size now. She shakes her head. "Not how I expected the day to start…" she ruffles him on his hat. "Come on, we have to get going. The fog is fading fast." She stops, surveying the still running car. It had a small dent in the bumper from the impact. "I suppose that could have been worse." She lets out a nervous chuckle. The two get into the car, leaving it all behind.

As the fog clears, the area seems to go back to normal, including the window. A shadowed person watches from a monitor. "That's very fascinating." The dark voice says, "The next stage of research has begun. Prepare the pods, we will be collecting some new specimens."


	5. Chapter5

A week had passed since Bearmon had bioemerged. Things had been quiet. He wasn't used to it. Madi lived in a nice apartment. It was quiet there. No one bothered them and it was easy to sneak Bearmon out. They were having breakfast, the TV on in the background for noise. The two had used the downtime to catch up. Madi on her life, Bearmon on his. They were inseparable, save for when Madi had to attend classes. She got in the habit of parking further away from the school building so that he could wait in the nearby woods.

The channel made an urgent noise as a special report came up. It reported that there have been a lot of freak fog incidents in the last few days and that people had come up missing after. So far, 3 people were missing. Bearmon and Madi looked at each other, then back at the screen. It shows sped up footage of the the fog rolling in, then the picture goes fuzzy. The effect of the digital field. Then it fades.

"That can't be good." Bearmon whispers.

"Does it sound familiar?" Madi asks.

Bearmon shakes his head. "No, but it has to be right up our alley."

Madi agrees, nodding. "You know, Fisher isn't too far from here." She takes a bite of her fruit salad. "We could go check it out. You'd be able to sense anything around. Maybe we can figure out what happened."

Bearmon nods, "What about the other two cities?" He asks.

"They're in two different states. I'm not so sure about that." She finishes up her bowl. "It's about an hour drive from here." She grabs Bearmon's bowl and puts both bowls in the sink. "You ready to go?" She asks, heading for her jacket.

With a skitter on the linoleum, Bearmon is at the door. He turns to Madi, "This is going to be just like old times." He says with a grin.

Madi shrugs, putting her purse strap over her shoulder. "I think having a car may make it easier." She agrees, pulling out her keys.

It was a long drive, filled with empty corn fields. They arrived in town and after some trial and error, they finally found the location. It had been a day, but the area looked to be untouched. Madi looked around before looking back to see Bearmon still in the car. "Are you coming?" She asks.

"I'm just supposed to walk around in broad daylight?" He asks.

Madi shrugs, trust me, we'll be fine. It's October. People will just think it's a costume.

The two partners walk across the street. There's a back alley that Bearmon seems drawn to. Madi asks around about the fog, but the only information she can get is how crazy it was and how no one had seen anything like it before. "Thanks for your help. I was hoping to get some information for my paper." She explains. She turns to see Bearmon going into the alley. She thanks the last man she talked to before she goes after Bearmon, meeting up at the entrance. "What is it?" She asks.

"Something is here." He growls.

They walk through the alley, keeping their eyes peeled. "Maybe a higher view?" Madi asks, halfway down the alleyway. Bearmon jumps on a dumpster, then leaps straight up, grabbing the ledge of the roof. From there, he smoothly pulls himself up. Madi continues down the alley, Bearmon following from above. She looks up to him, "Anything?" She asks.

He looks down, shrugging. "Not sure the-" he trails off as he sees something, "Behind you!" He jumps from the roof, rolling as he hits the ground.

Madi turns in time to see a a purple blur shooting straight forward. She strikes out with the back of her hand, slapping it away from her and into the wall. Bearmon is at her side after, a low growl coming from him as he gets in front of her. She pulls out her digivice, the holographic display popping up with a summary Pagumon: It enjoys bullying other digimon and will flap its ears to mock others. It is capable of low level flight.

Madi looks up as it starts to stir. As it comes to, it focuses in on the two, "Waaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!! Please! I just want my friend back!!!!!! Don't hurt me!!!!!!!!" Her and Bearmon look at each other. Madi slowly moves toward it, holding her hands out. "Hey, it's okay. We're not here to hurt you." She says, gently.

Pagumon notices the digivice in her hand, he sniffles as he quiets down. "You *sniff* you're a tamer?"

Madi nods, "Yeah, me and Bearmon here are a team." She explains. "We're here to figure out what happened. We saw on the news that a digital field appeared here. Someone came up missing that same day. Was that your friend?" She asks.

Pagumon nods. "Uh huh. My friend James." He sniffs again. "He has one of those things too. He's a tamer."

Bearmon, a little more relaxed, moves closer. "Do you know what happened?"

Pagumon nods, "We were headed to get lunch and the fog moved in. It all happened so fast. This thing came out and attacked us. It's skin looked like a rainbow and *sniff* I wasn't strong enough to protect him." Pagumon starts to cry again.

Madi thinks for a moment, "So how did you escape?" Looking around. There wasn't a lot around and it would have been difficult for him to run away.

"He didn't." Bearmon answered. "Because I wouldn't have escaped. I would have fought to keep you safe." He looks up at her and back to Pagumon.

"He's right…..I didn't. It was worse." He sniffs a little more before taking a deep breath. "It knocked me into that dumpster and the lid fell down. I got stuck until they emptied it!"

Madi thinks for a moment. "They couldn't have gone right back to the Digital World from here."

Bearmon figures the same thing she is. "Is there a portal around here?" He asks.

Pagumon closes his eyes. "We haven't found one. Why does that matter?" He answers, quizzically.

"That's great!" Madi says excitedly. "If you don't know, then chances are they won't know either since they just got here. We might be able to get your friend back."

The little digimon opens his eyes, looking up at Madi, "Really?"

"If they don't know where that is, then they're probably not going anywhere for now." Bearmon agrees, "So they have to be nearby!"

Nodding, Madi asks, "Are there any good hiding spots around here?" She asks. "Places you can go when your friend has school or work?"

Pagumon hops up and down. "There's an abandoned warehouse I like to play in while I wait for James to get back. I've been practicing my attacks there. No one comes around."

About 30 minutes later, Madi, Bearmon, and Pagumon pull into a parking lot. They'd grabbed lunch before heading there, since Pagumon hadn't eaten anything decent since the attack. The warehouse was a bit of a hike from there, but they didn't want to chance giving anything away if the nonmon and James were inside the warehouse.

It was about a 15 minute walk from the lot to the warehouse. It looked like it used to be some sort of factory. No fences around it, easy access. They were on the side with a lot of trees, so there was plenty to hide in. Pagumon was keeping up well. But here and there he had to stop. So Madi carried him when he wanted to rest.

"Okay, if we sneak up to the side of the factory, there's a broken door. It's already open, so it won't make any noise." Pagumon says hurriedly.

Madi nods, "Okay, from here, we have to be quiet. We don't want to risk getting caught."

They all nod and make their way to the door. As they walk in, they tiptoe, being as quiet as they can. Bearmon moves ahead, checking around corners. The inside of the building has several collapsed floors. It's not a safe place. They can hear voices echo out though, so they continue on.

Bearmon gets to a ledge and holds his hand back, signaling Madi to stop. She's holding Pagumon now, which makes it easier to have everyone on the same page. Bearmon to signals them to move closer. Madi does, quietly. Peaking over the edge, they see a boy sitting on the ground. There are two other people with him and two other digimon. They couldn't tell what they were from here though. There are two raptor digimon circling them. A third, looking more like a centaur, larger than the other two watching over them all.

"This is going to be harder than I thought." Bearmon says.


	6. Chapter6

"That's James!" Pagumon whispers.

The three sneak back, a safe distance to decide what to do. Once outside, they return to the trees for cover.

"They're taking tamers." Madi shudders. "There's no telling how hard this is going to be either. The nonmon that Bearmon and I fought was tough."

"What are those things anyway?" Pagumon asks.

"We're not sure. They just showed up one day and started attacking and taking digimon." Bearmon explains, "Their army keeps growing and growing. It got bad enough we had to band together to fight them off. The strongest of us would run them off easily. But they keep getting stronger and stronger, until we couldn't."

It was silent for a few moments. The wind shaking the leaves above them, red and brown leaves floating to the ground as a result.

"We have to do something." Madi says, finally. "We'll just have to play this smart. We're the cavalry. They won't expect us. But that only goes so far if we just burst in. It's 3 against two right now."

"I can't beat one of those!" Pagumon protests.

"It's not about beating them." Bearmon interrupts. "It's about distracting them long enough to get the others."

"That's right." Madi agrees. "If we can free the others, it's four against three. We can do this and turn the tables. I have an idea."

A few moments later, Madi and Bearmon were back inside the factory. They were waiting on Pagumon. "We never had to fight like this before." Bearmon complains, keeping to a whisper.

"It's a different game now." Madi agrees. "We have to adapt. These things are harder to fight than a digimon."

"Yeah, can't just slap them into the wall." He teases.

Madi puts a hand to her face, "I know, I still feel bad about it. I wish I-" she's cutoff as a noise comes from outside.

"GIVE ME BACK MY FRIEND YOU GIANT WANNABES!" Pagumon yells from outside. He's gone into full melt down. A moment later, a rock smashes threw an already broken window.

All three nonmon look at the window, the rock not getting anywhere near them. The largest, the centaur like one nods towards the doors facing away from Madi and Bearmon. "Go handle it." It grunts. The other two let out a growl that sounds closer to a hiss as they run out the door, flinging them open. The doors slam shut, rebounding from the impact against the wall.

Madi and Bearmon spring into action. Bearmon rushes the remaining nonmon, leaping and kicking him right in the head. The two start to fight, the digimon leading the nonmon warden from its prisoners. Madi runs to the group, the boy that she assumed was James looks right at her. The other two, being the two that were taken out of state. All three of them were here.

All three of the captives were alert. "You have to get out of here. Those things are too strong!" James says. Madi starts to untie them, "Me and Bearmon have handled worse." She gets them all untied about the time that Bearmon slams into the ground a few feet away.

"You have to run!" One of the others says.

"We're not going anywhere!" She stands, running for Bearmon. The nonmon stalks his way back into the room.

"So….you think you can fight me?" His right arm shifts, taking the shape of a blade. "You've insulted me digimon. Prepare to be deleted."

"Don't count on it!" Bearmon lifts himself up as Madi gets to him. She helps him up the rest of the way. "I'm fine, just leading him on."

Madi grins, turning her head to see the 5 behind them. The two digimon's tamers helping their partners out. James heads for the door. As the digimon stand, a Gizamon and a Dorumon, they look to her. "Go, you two help Pagumon!" She turns her attention back, grabbing her digivice and unbuttoning the card case at her hip.

James, May, Brandon, Pagumon, Gizamon, and Dorumon:

James ran out the door, stopping only an instant so he could find his friend. He sees the two prisms closing in on Pagumon. He makes a dash straight for the broken down corner they've managed to herd the little digimon to. "Leave him alone!" He yells as he flings a rock at one of them. As it hits, they both turn their gaze on him.

"No! We're not done here!" Pagumon protest, "Acid bubbles!" He fires a round of bubbles at the nonmon, who don't react. They stalk toward James now. Pagumon leaps on one of their backs desperately hitting it with his ears. With and effortless swat of its tail, the other nonmon swats Pagumon off. "No! I won't be helpless this time!" He screams, a bright light emitting from him.

_Digivolution…_

_Pagumon sees the code surrounding him as his begins to change. "Pagumon, digivolve to…." His skin tears from his body as his code expands, taking a new form. He's wrapped in a new skin as the digivolution finishes "Demidevimon!"_

James is ready to fight the nonmon himself. He has his fists raised, not backing down. "You're not taking me back!" He declares, rebelliously. As the two dash at him, an attack lands from above."Demidevi claw" his partner yells as he begins to claw one on its head. The other swings his tail at him again. This time, he dodges, the tail hitting the nonmon instead. The strike knocks a large amount of data from its face, provoking it to strike back at its accomplice.

"James, run!" Demidevimon yells, flying behind as his partner runs away. The other two tamers have made it out of the building with their partners now, headed toward them. They all meet, stopping "Don't stop now!" Demidevimon yells. But there's nowhere else to go. They're in the field of an abandoned factory. They're far from town. They look back to the factory, where Madi and Bearmon are. James takes a step towards it, thinking better of it as he hears a bloodcurdling roar from inside. It leaves the three tamers and their partners with the two nonmon, who are now heading towards them again, their dispute settled.

"I think we have to fight!" May says as she looks to Dorumon. "I'll always fight for you!" Dorumon answers. She looks to Brandon and Gizamon who look just as ready.

James turns to Demidevimon. "I know it didn't work that well last time, but we're stronger now. Plus we have help." He hold his hands out.

Demidevimon swoops in, hugging his friend. "I'll do whatever it takes. They're not taking you from me again." He declares. Flying back into the air.

All six of them turn on the nonmon, who've made it to them. They begin to circle the group, each going a separate direction. Dorumon is the first to charge, going straight for the one on her side. "You won't touch her again!"she inhales, opening her mouth "Dash metal!" She fires a cannonball from her mouth, hitting the nonmon dead center of its already damaged head. She jumps on it, her jaws clamping down on its throat.

"Water shot!" Gizamon fires a stream of water at the nonmon on his side. Demidevimon follows it up, "Bat flutter!" With a wave of his wings, a barrage of explosive bats hit it knocking it back. Gizamon hops forward, charging the nonmon while it's off balance. "Spiral saw!" He cries out as he rolls into a ball and cuts through the nonmon. At almost the same instant, both nonmon shatter, fading from the world until nothing is left. The group celebrates their victory, turning back toward the factory.

They can hear the impacts inside. Whatever is going on, it's not pretty. They see a giant flash come from inside the building, followed by another crash.

"What should we do?" May asks, looking to the group, then Dorumon.

James and Devimon speak in unison. "We have to help!" They grin at each other. Devimon finishes, "They helped us and they didn't even know us. We can't just abandon them!"

Brandon and Gizamon look at each other and nod. "Let's go!"


	7. Chapter7

Madi and Bearmon:

Bearmon rushes forward as Madi picks a card. "Digi modify!" She swipes the card, "Radiant form activate!" A brilliant aura surrounds Bearmon as he rushes forward. The nonmon dashes forward, he jabs at him with it as if jousting. Bearmon dodges, narrowly escaping the blade. He dashes into the air, giving the nonmon a bear fist right to the chest. With the enhancement from the card, he hits a little harder. It barely phases the nonmon, who responds by swatting him with its free hand. It's swings the blade at Bearmon, the blade hitting the aura. Bearmon is knocked back into a wall, the aura shattering as he does. He falls, trying to catch himself, stumbling as he hits the floor.

The centaur like nonmon rushes at him again. Madi scrambles to find a card that will work. She can't find any, and then she sees it. The blue card, just like old times. She doesn't hesitate, "Digi modify!" She swipes the card as quickly as she can, dropping the other cards as she does,"Digivolution activate!"

_Digivolution _

_Bearmon's code floats around him, "Bearmon digivolve to…" his fur tearing from his body. His code expands, taking in a larger form. A new layer of fur wraps around him as a large grizzly bear. "Grizzlymon!!!"_

Grizzlymon is about half the size of the centaur nonmon now, taller if he would stand on his hind legs. "Crescent dawn!" He yells. His crescent shape on his head glows, then his eyes, then he lets out a beam of energy, blasting the nonmon and knocking it back. He charges, letting out a bloodcurdling roar as he uses his maul attack. Shreds of the nonmon start flying off, fading away as they do. Grizzlymon isn't finished there, however. He clamps his jaws around the throat of his enemy, shaking his head to drag him around. With a flick of his head, he sends it flying against the entrance wall, creating a large bang.

He charges it again, slamming right into it with his shoulder. The two go through the wall, Madi picking up her cards and then running outside to keep up with her partner. "You've got him on the ropes buddy!" The rest of the group arrive, in shock at the sight.

"Is that your partner?" May asks, her voice shaking a little.

"Sure is." Madi answers. "I told you we'd seen worse." She turns back to the battle.

Grizzlymon is back up on all fours as the nonmon gets back up to his. It looks like the nonmon is going to collapse at any moment. The arm that had formed a sword moment ago, now a stub. "You will lose." It says to Grizzlymon.

Madi, not willing to take any chances, pulls out a card. "Digi modify!" She calls out, swiping it through. "Saberleomon's Howling crusher activate."

The nonmon charges Grizzlymon again, he doesn't make it as Grizzlymon let's out the uploaded attack. A large roar comes from him, as he charges the nonmon one last time, mauling it with his claws until nothing was left. Grizzlymon stands on his hind legs, towering over the tamers and their digimon, letting out a champion's roar.

When he returns to all fours, he shakes the ground beneath him. The other digidestined look frightened. Madi just smirks. "You try way too hard to look cool."

He smiles, walking over to the group. "Maybe." He agrees, "But I just took down the big bad. I think I'm entitled." He bends his head down to Madi as she hugs his face.

Petting the sides of his face. "I'm so proud of you." She praises.

"You too!" He says, lifting his head again. "Those power ups were perfectly timed!"

"Power ups?" Brandon asks, "Is that what you did with the cards?"

Madi had forgotten about everyone for a moment. "Yeah. They're not really common anymore. But I have quite a few that our friends gave us." She explains. "When the D-Reaper thing happened, and Bearmon went back to the digital world, some of our friends would come visit and bring them to me as gifts."

They all looked a little puzzled.

"You know, the attack in New Mexico with the red blob?" She tries to explain.

James, the older of the 3, remembers. "Oh, that attack that happened a really long time ago!" He recalls.

"Oh yeah." May says, "My grandpa told me about that once. I was really young when that happened."

Madi puts her hand to her face, feeling the years creeping up on her now. "Anyone else wanna make me feel old?" She asks, realizing she was just beginning high school when that had all started.

"I don't understand why there's not more footage." Brandon says, hammering the final nail, "Didn't phones have cameras on then back then?

The three new tamer's digimon look puzzled. Madi rubs her temples, grumbling to herself. "No one would have to know. Yeah, last time I seen em, a nonmon was on top of them ripping them to shreds…."

"What?" The three ask in unison.

"What?." Madi answers, looking up to Grizzlymon. "I'm not sure how we're gonna fit everyone in my car. Or explain how the other two got here for that matter. Wait, how did you all get here?" She asks, "James, I get. But you two, not so much. You live in Iowa, she points to May, and you live in Missouri, gesturing to Brandon.

"I don't know." May and Brandon day in unison.

"When they came after me, I was knocked out. When I came to, we were here, tied up." Brandon answers.

"I remember a flash of light, then I passed out. Next thing I knew, me and Dorumon were here." May recalls. "It all happened so fast."

Their digimon looked at one another. "I got knocked down in the fight." Dorumon says, Gizamon agreeing, "Me too."

After a very cramped ride back to town, the group arrives in front of the police station. The digimon hide in the trunk, the middle seat being kept open so they can still see. The story was that Madi found the three of them while out surveying the old factory. She had been pointed there for local history. She was a student, after all. They kept a the details of the story that wouldn't cause confusion. Leaving out the details of the nonmon or their partners.

After making arrangements, Brandon and May decided to stick around for a bit. By the time everyone was finished, the group decided on dinner. They grouped together, deciding to get to know everyone, getting pizzas and going to James's apartment.

The group all talked, asking Madi all kinds of questions. After searching the Internet, they found modify cards at a decent price. The three getting some random card packs.

"Don't use the Digivolution card until you're ready." She warns them. "You have to grow stronger together. If you try to take that leap before it's time, you won't have the control you need. Even Bearmon and I waited to use digivolution, since it's been so long."

"How will we know?" James asks, Demidevimon perched behind him, "Yeah, I just did it. It wasn't planned."

"Me too!" Dorumon says.

Gizamon silently says, "I was digivolved when I came here."

"It's different for everyone." Madi explains. "Bearmon arrived as a bearmon, fighting off a greymon that attacked me. We didn't use digivolution until the blue card appeared."

Bearmon nods, "And Madi digivolved after I went back to the Digital World!" He says proudly.

The group laughs, thinking his statement a joke. Madi plays it off, shooting Bearmon a look.

After a couple hours, Madi and Bearmon exchange information with the group, before heading out. They would help them as best they could, sharing their experience. The sun was setting. It was silent for a little bit. Madi finally opening up, "Bearmon, I know you didn't mean any harm. But telling people about me being transgender isn't your truth to tell. " she explains.

"I didn't think about it like that. What's the harm though? It's no big deal, you're still a good person." He responds, confused.

"Not everyone sees it that way. Some people don't care about how much better our lives are when we transition. They don't understand it's a medical condition. They see it as a mental illness, even though it's not. There are physical causes in the brain, despite it, some argue with opinion, religion, sometimes just because that's what they were taught."

Bearmon frowns, "That's ridiculous. What does it matter?"

Madi shrugs, "Some day it won't matter." She answers. "But until then, I have to choose who I tell carefully."

Bearmon is silent for a few moments. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize."

Madi smiles, "I know. It's fine." After a few moments "When we're growing up, people always tell us 'it's what's inside that counts'. But then you actually get out there, and you're judged on how you look." She huffs, "I'm one of the lucky ones. I had full support. Not everyone does."

"Well, to me, you're just you."Bearmon supports, "I just didn't understand."

Madi nods, "That same scenario happens a lot, which is why I try to be patient."

"You're amazing." Bearmon compliments her.

"You are too." Madi smiles, glancing at him.

Hollow footsteps fall on the ground outside the abandoned factory. The shadow walks inside, surveying the area. "Failures. All of them…" he vents to no one. He fades from the real world, looking at his computer monitor back in the digital world again. "I have to get a tamer for the next step. Their partners could hold the key to advance the human race as well. Bringing us forward to the end goal. World peace, though tough to attain, is worth every bit of effort." He stands, walking out of the room. "Prepare a squad. It's time we continue perfecting the sequence. I need more powerful nonmon if this is going to work. Bring me some ultimate level digimon, it's time we save them….."


	8. Chapter8

The weekend was over. The week following their trip had been mellow . Madi and Bearmon were relaxing, once more, having breakfast with the news in the background. It was a holiday, so there was no school, which was nice. Fisher had reported some loud noise over the week, following the text the got from James that read 'We got one!'. Madi smiled , looking over at Bearmon.

"Looks like we taught them well." She says.

"Like there was a doubt." He smiles, "I'm the best teacher there is!"

Madi just shakes her head, taking a bite of cantaloupe.

Later that day Madi and Bearmon head out for a hike. The weather was getting cooler, there wouldn't be a lot of good times for it soon. Walking the secluded trails was good for privacy. Bearmon taking to the trees if he heard anyone coming. They found a nice spot to relax, unpacking a blanket and spreading it out. Both of them flop down, just enjoying the peace and seclusion.

"This was a good idea." She says, thanking Bearmon

"Told you it'd be a nice getaway." He puts his hands behind his head.

Somewhere along the way, Madi dozed off. She had a dream, from when her and Bearmon were younger. She hadn't had this one for years. Her and Bearmon were surrounded, protecting a digimon that was like a clam. They were surrounded, a group of Skullgreymon advancing on them. She held up her digivice to biomerge. But as they began to digivolve, it was stopped. The attacks came down on them. The two looked to each other. Bearmon started screaming her name.

"MADI! MADI WAKE UP!" Her eyes snap open to see red eyes glaring at them through the trees. A nonmon shaped like a raptor on the ground. Struggling to stand. How had she managed to sleep through that?! She was on her feet in a flash.

Bearmon in front of her. "I count five." He says, winded. "They're not attacking at once, for some reason." He says.

The remaining nonmon all start to let out a growl.

"We can't take them all." She tells Bearmon, panicked. "We have to run."

Bearmon agrees, "You go first, I'll be right behind you."

In one swift motion, Madi grabs the blanket and runs to the trail, Bearmon falling in behind her. The nonmon are off, chasing after the two. More than the original five,"What happened!?" Madi yells behind her.

"They just showed up!" Bearmon jumps, punching a nonmon that gets too close. He lands, keeping pace with the running, using all four legs. "The one started to creep up on us, I played dead and struck as soon as it got close."

How did they find them? Madi couldn't believe it. No one even knew where they were. They stop, a large cloaked figure blocks their path. More nonmon move in. They were lead into a trap!

Madi, takes her backpack off, stuffing the blanket into it. Showing no fear as she does this. She does her best to look bored, not doing the impression very well. Bearmon is keeping guard, watching as many of them as he can. "I'm gonna guess you're the boss?" She asks, zipping her bag and slinging it over her shoulders.

"You could say that Madi." He acknowledges , "But I really wish you'd see me as a friend." He holds out his hand.

She looks around, "You know, the bad guys done usually have a sense of humor." She claps, dramatically, "Good for you, breaking stereotypes."

"You are not that Bearmon's original tamer. How is that possible? They bond with their digidestined tamers for life." He waits for an answer, genuinely curious.

"How do you mean?" She tips her head, confused.

"That Bearmon is one of interest. I've gotten to know him very well. He-"

Bearmon cuts him off. "I don't know you!"

"No." He agrees, "But I have all the information I need, thanks to the humans." He explains.

Someone knew about them. But they hadn't kept the information current if he didn't know who she was. This person didn't know she and Matt were one in the same. She had an advantage. He didn't know everything and that meant he would assume they were weaker or incapable even.

"Madi is my tamer, she's-" Madi cuts him off, "Just special, I guess." She finishes Bearmon's sentence, casually putting her hands behind her head.

"I see…" the figure takes a few steps forward. "The two of you will be amazing for the cause. I'm so very thankful to have met you. I would love for the both of you to be my guests."his hand had still not moved.

"On a list of things that are not going to happen, that's probably number one." Madi declines, "I know better than to go to weird places with strangers."

"Pity…" He snaps his fingers, "Take them!" The nonmon all hiss out a growl, stalking toward them. There were about ten of them. The duo knew they had to hit hard out of the gate, using that element of surprise to its finest.

"Bearmon!?" She calls out.

"Ready!" He charges for the cloaked figure.

"Digi modify!" Madi calls out, swiping the blue card, appearing as if by command "Digivolution activate!"

In a brilliant flash of light, Grizzlymon took Bearmon's place, rushing through the man. "Maul attack!" He claws at the figure, going right through him.

"Interesting…." The man in the cloak says, "You've already managed to digivolve with a new tamer. I really am looking forward to converting you." He disappears, fading away without another word.

Meanwhile, 4 of the nonmon raptors stalk toward Madi. "Your…..coming…..with us……" one hisses.

"I don't think so!" Madi drops the bag off of her shoulder, swinging it around as a makeshift weapon. She hits two, only managing to irritate them. She swings it the other way, one of them catching it in their mouth, throwing it away as it tears the bag out of Madi's hand with the flick of their neck.

"No choice!" One lunges at her, causing her to fall back. It grabs her by the back of her jacket, dragging her away. Grizzlymon now has nine that he's facing on his own. He looks to Madi, his eyes going dark as he snarls trying to break through the line of nonmon. As a group, they're proving too much for even a Champion, knocking him back. Madi, swings up, trying to punch the nonmon in the face. It does no good. She moves to trying to get her jacket off, but it's too snug to unzip.

"Madi!!!!" Grizzlymon cries out, desperate to break through. The combined might of the nonmon prove to be too much as they start to knock the champion back.

It's too soon to digivolve again. They haven't worked back up to that. If she doesn't do something quick they're going to lose. Then they're going to be hostages. Out of nowhere, a flash of yellow as Madi feels her jacket give her slack. She's free, but how? She turns around to see a yellow fox digimon standing between her and the nonmon.

"Take it down Renamon!" A voice comes from behind her. A woman about her age appears from the tree line. She has a digivice too, the same color as Madi's

"With pleasure!" She calls back, focusing on the nonmon, "Diamond Storm!" She fires the barrage at the single nonmon, running it away from Madi. It circles around and then back to the group. She pursues it, rushing the help Grizzlymon.

Madi stares in amazement. In just a few seconds, these two have shown their experience. They might be tougher than her and Bearmon.

"Time to get in on the fight. "Digi modify!" She swipes a blue card, Renamon changes in a flash of light.

_Digivolution…_

_The Fox digimon falls backward, bringing her arms down to her sides, light trailing from her claws. "Renamon digivolve to!" Her fur tears from her body, revealing her code, she watches the new code around her. It all streams together with her form, changing her shape. Familiar fur takes its place as she finishes her new form. A fox with nine tails. "Kyubimon!"_

Kyubimon fires at the group, most of which still holding back Grizzlymon. "Fox tail inferno!" She yells, blasting them with her fire.

Grizzlymon dishes it back as well, combining his attack with Renamon's. "Crescent dawn!"

The combination of the attacks knocks the pack of nonmon back, many of them having trouble getting up. The sudden change in pace of the battle being a tough change for the distorted creature.

The two digimon stand side by side now. "Good to see you again." Grizzlymon says.

"I'm sure." Renamon agrees.


	9. Chapter9

Two champions vs ten nonmon changes the tide of the fight really quickly. The nonmon knew this, so did the tamers and their partners. These weren't two inexperienced tamers either. These two knew exactly what they were doing and their digimon knew how to work together already.

Kyubimon rushes the still recovering nonmon, Grizzlymon right behind her. "Dragon wheel!" Kyubimon rolls through the group, throwing any that were up back to the ground. Grizzlymon mauls the group, several of them bursting and fading. The nonmon were being taken down with extreme prejudice. There was no other way. The two digimon survey the area before returning to their tamers.

Rika was reached out a hand to Madi, who was still kind of in shock. "Thanks." Madi says as she gets to her feet. She walks over to Grizzlymon, burying her face in his fur as she hugs him. Likewise, he wraps an arm around her. "I thought that was the end." She whispers. Grizzlymon says nothing, just happy she's safe.

Rika was checking Kyubimon over, "You totally crushed them!" She says, scratching her partner behind the ears.

"Naturally." She agrees, nodding towards Grizzlymon. "He's a friend. We've done a lot of work together." They walk over to the other pair, Madi and Grizzlymon releasing each other.

"How'd you know it was me?" Grizzlymon asks.

"Because you still stink.." Kyubimon teases.

When the laughter dies down, Madi and Rika introduce themselves.

"You, look familiar." Madi notices.

Rika grins, knowingly, "I get that a lot." She says, not explaining.

"Grizzlymon." Kyubimon says, taking control of the dialogue. "I thought your tamer was a boy?" She doesn't say it in a judgemental tone. She's just confused.

Grizzlymon responds quickly, as if he expected that question. "Really? That's weird. She's clearly not."

Rika looks up at he partner, "Does it really matter?"

Kyubimon squints, not sure how to respond. "I'm very good with details. I don't make mistakes." She says suspiciously.

Madi's heart begins pounding. She looks to Grizzlymon, "It's okay." She smiles, "She's your friend. If you trust her, I trust her." She turns, looking Kyubimon and Rika in the eye. "I….was born a boy. But now, I'm a girl. Grizzlymon isn't trying to hide anything. He's just trying to be respectful."

It's quiet for a moment, the air thick with awkwardness. "She digivolved?" Grizzlymon tries to help.

Rika finally breaks the silence, shrugging. "Every girl has their tomboy phase." She says, "Get over it."

Madi lets out a sigh of relief. Kyubimon bends her head down in apology. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize."

"No problem!" Madi replies.

The ground suddenly shakes, getting everyone's attention. They all look at each other. In the next moment, something slams into the ground, throwing the four backwards and scattering them. A large beastman shaped nonmon stands in a crater of its own making. The voice of the cloaked man carries through the air.

"Well now. I didn't expect guests. Especially not Renamon and Rika " his voice is smug. "But that's okay, I just finished this one. Did you know that I can access the data of any digimon one has loaded?" He asks, not waiting for an answer. "Though the process normally destroys them, I can pick the strongest or most useful code. This particular one was pulled from a digidestined digimon. They're unique because their link to a human keeps me from directly accessing their code. An obstacle I plan to conquer. But you'll all see that soon enough."

Kyubimon is the first to attack the nonmon, "Fox tail inferno!"

The beastman raises an arm, the attack not even phasing him. Grizzlymon is next up, "Crescent dawn" he fires, receiving the same treatment that Kyubimon's did. It responds by rushing Kyubimon, slamming her backwards.

"Kyubimon no!" Rika is to her partner's side in a flash.

Madi runs to Grizzlymon's side. "We'll do this together." As she grabs for her cards and digivice. "Digi modify! Angemon's hand of fate activate!" Grizzlymon runs forward, reaching his claws forward as he unleashes the loaded attack. With a direct hit, the nonmon only takes a step back. Grizzlymon continues his assault, using his maul attack. Claw after claw strikes the nonmon with no effect. He stand on his hind legs, slamming down with his claw. Before he can bring his front paws to the ground, the nonmon punches him square in the chest. Grizzlymon flies through the air, landing in front of Madi. He lies there, unmoving as Madi rushes to him.

"Grizzlymon!" She puts her hands on his face. "Grizzlymon, wake up! Please!" She tries to stir him awake. The next thing she knows, she's lifted up, ripped away from her partner. The nonmon carrying her away, it goes for Rika. Madi begins kicking, trying to get away. Her hand outstretched to Grizzlymon, yelling for him. As he reaches for Rika, Kyubimon is on the defensive. She's slapped away effortlessly. In an instant, it has both of the tamers in each arm.

Madi knows it may be too early. But she's out of options. "Bearmon….I know we're trying not to push it too far. But we have to push forward. Please, I need you…"

"Kyubimon! He's too strong. I'll be fine, get out of here!" Rika yells.

Grizzlymon's eyes snap open, him and Kyubimon standing at the same time. "Let her go!" Grizzlymon roars, pushing off of his back feet. "She's my partner, you will not take her or my friend!"

At that instant, a woman comes through the clearing, stopping in her tracks. A small digimon on her shoulder, "Rika!" The woman yells.

The digimon on her shoulder, Calumon, goes into action, their forehead glowing. Madi and Rika each suddenly have a blue card appearing in their hands. Without another thought, they swipe them, "Digi modify!" The call out "Digivolution activate."

_Matrix digivolution…_

_The two digimon both let loose their code, the fur ripped from their body. "Kyubimon digivolve to…..Taomon!" Taomon spins, wrapped in a sages robe. "Grizzlymon digivolve to….Grapleomon!" His body is wrapped in metal, followed by him bursting out. The turbines on his forearm and shins spinning. _

Both ultimate level digimon rush the nonmon. It turns, dropping the girls as it does, punching at both digimon. They both catch the attack, pushing back against it. Though they've digivolved, they're barely a match for it combined. Grapleomon goes into action, pushing Taomon away, to give her some distance without getting hit. He's grappling both arms of the nonmon now. "You won't hurt her!" He yells, the turbines on his arm beginning to spin. Both tamers get clear, staying out of the way for their partners to handle the fight.

Taomon circles around to the backside of the nonmon, acting quick. She notices it trying to throw Grapleomon off balance. She strokes her brush in the air, "Talisman of light!" The character she's drawn in the air flies forward, exploding against the nonmon's back. It falls forward, Grapleomon leans back, throwing it away from them. He runs toward it, trying to hit it before it lands, "Beast king barrage!" He yells, releasing the energy built by his turbines. Several lion shaped energy blasts hit it, knocking large chunks off of it. If falls to the ground, rolling to a stop in front of the woman.

She freezes, not even breathing as the nonmon looks up. He tries to move, but is captivated by her. Even with the pending attack, he doesn't look away as the two digimon rush in to finish the job. "My……. Jerrr….my……my Jeri…." It says, weakly.


	10. Chapter10

Jeri couldn't move when it began talking to her. She was in danger, but she couldn't budge. Calumon was tugging at her pants. "Jeri, we have to get out of here!"

Everything was moving so fast, yet so slow all at once. The voice that came from that thing….sounded like her partner. She turned, seeing Grapleomon and Taomon closing in. They were trying to get to the nonmon before it got to her. She flinched, as the digimon attacked, the nonmon who seemed to find a second wind. Grapleomon was at it, locking arms again. Grapleomon's turbines began to rotate as he gathered energy to push the nonmon back.

Rika and Madi were right behind their partners. "Grapleomon, get that thing away from her!" Madi yells, warning him about how close Jeri was. Grapleomon shifts, trying to keep it from Jeri.

"Jeri, snap out of it!" Rika yells, running to her, grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her away. Calumon jumps onto Jeri's shoulder. The three women watch on as the brawl continues.

Taomon slams her brush into the back of the nonmon's legs. It's legs buckle from the attack, Grapleomon taking advantage and ripping him into the air, throwing the nonmon away from the tamers.

Jeri reaches into her bag. "Rika, it's Leomon!" She yells.

Rika looks to her. "Jeri, that's Madi's partner. It's not Leomon."

Madi looks over to the two as Jeri begins again, "No, that thing." She says, quickly, "It's Leomon. I know it is!" She pulls something out, a yellow and silver digivice. She hits some of the buttons, the screen not doing anything. She smiles. "I have to help him! Tell them to stop."

Rika looks to her friend, trying not to hurt her feelings. "Jeri, I know you miss him, but he isn't coming back."

She's even more determined to convince her. "You thought the same thing about Renamon. Yet here we are, working with Mr. Wong and YOUR partner." She squeezes her digivice. "Calumon, you believe me don't you?"

The tiny digimon nods, "Mmmmhmmm!" It agrees, enthusiastically. "How else would he have said your name."

Madi gathered a lot from the conversation. She wasn't as skeptical as Rika was. There was a connection between partners. This was similar to her and Bearmon when he first came back.. "I do too." She says finally, "What can we do?"

Jeri smiles, excitedly moving in front of Madi, "Really!? You'll help me!?"

"When Bearmon came back, he didn't recognize me." She explains. "It took convincing to get him to stop using his eyes to see me. Once he did, he recognized me." She looks over at Rika. "If Jeri thinks that's her partner, then we have to at least try."

Rika reluctantly agrees, "Fine, we'll give it a try. But if we can't contain that thing, we have to take it down."

Jeri thanks them, with tears in her eyes, a smile on her face. "It's going to work, I just know it is!"

"Grapleomon!" Madi yells, "Change of plan, we need to restrain that nonmon!"

"You're kidding me!" He strains.

"Taomon, back him up! We have to do this!" Rika says, looking through her cards.

Grapleomon, in another lock up, changes stance, no longer trying to keep it off balance for Taomon to strike. He's the lead now. He thrusts the nonmon's arms down, putting his shoulder into it. With his arms wrapped around, he hoists it into the air, coming straight up and slams him into the the ground with a suplex. He rolls away, his turbines beginning to spin as he stands.

Taomon wraps the nonmon in her talismans, not detonating them. It holds it in place as Grapleomon advances. As he get close, a burst of energy comes from the nonmon, a knife formed in its hand. It breaks free of the talismans, delivering a kick to Grapleomon's head, then punching a recovering Taomon. The two digimon are down. It turns on the girls again.

Grapleomon struggles to get up. Taomon is up in a flash. "Thousand spells!" She throws a barrage of talisman slips, covering the nonmon. The area is covered in smoke from the detonation. Using the cover, she gets to the tamers and Calumon. She slaps a talisman slip to the ground, chanting "Talisman spell!" Forming a hemispherical yin yang shield around the group.

The nonmon appears from the smoke, appearing to be unaffected. It bring the hand with the knife, striking the shield. Taomon is silent as she focuses on keeping it strong. Another slam with its other hand as it begins thrashing. Spiderweb cracks begin to form on the barrier.

Rika swipes a card, "Digi modify! Recharge activate!" Taomon glows as she receives the upgrade, the spider cracks receding a little. "It won't hold for much longer!"

Grapleomon emerges from the thinning smoke, "Cyclone turbine!" He yells as he hits the nonmon with a barrage of kicks. Grapleomon manages to knock the nonmon away from the barrier. He moves between it and the barrier. The two square off, gauging one another. "King of fists!" Grapleomon rushes forward, punching the nonmon clear in its chest. Several cracks develop there.

"Sorry Madi. I'm not holding back. This thing is too strong to restrain!" He doesn't look back.

Jeri calls out, "You can't! It's him! I know it is!" Tears begin to stream from her face.

The nonmon gets its footing, stumbling from the blow. It holds out its knife hand, holding the blade horizontally and facing away from its body.

Rika watches, shocked. "It's starting to look like him." She says quietly.

Madi yells at her partner, "Would you have done the same to me when you didn't see me!?" She yells. "You're better than this!" Her tone is angry. "I won't help you do this. If you make this choice, you're doing it on your own!" She's so frustrated, her eyes start to well up. She looks over to Jeri, "What do you need me to do? He's too caught up in trying to protect me."

"We have to snap Leomon out of it." She answers. "The only way I can think of doing that is by getting to him myself."

Rika snaps, "That's crazy! He…it…..whatever that is is trying to take us down!" She's sounding like Grapleomon. "We can't just let you go hug it. Don't be stupid."

Taomon breaks her silence. "Rika…..we owe it to him to try…." She says, her voice a little strained. "I wouldn't be here….if it weren't for him."

Rika is silent for a moment after this, knowing her partner is right. She looks at Madi, "Think you can get your partner in check?"

Madi, sounding uncertain. "I'll try…" she answers, "We've never disagreed like this."

"Then we'll plan without you two." Rika responds, coldly.

"Your call Rika." Taomon says, still focusing on the barrier.

Grapleomon and the nonmon charge each other again. Grapleomon brings his arm up to block the slash the nonmon takes with its knife. He spins his turbines, striking with his other arm, as hard as he could. The nonmon's head falls back with the impact. But it charges back, striking Grapleomon in the stomach. The two continue, striking and hitting one another several more times. The nonmon takes the upper hand, knocking Grapleomon down. It knocks him back, landing where the barrier was moments ago. It rushes, kicking him and knocking him back even more.

Grapleomon doesn't move. He glows as he reverts to Bearmon. The nonmon still marches toward him. Taomon is nowhere to be seen, but Madi rushes from the tree line to Bearmon's side instantly. She covers him with her own body, protecting him from the nonmon. "Don't you dare quit on me!" She whispers as the nonmon arrives, towering above them.

Jeri screams out, coming from the tree line now. "Leomon, stop!"

It doesn't react to her. It hasn't moved, looking down on Madi and Bearmon.

"Leomon!" Jeri yells, desperation in her voice. "Look at me!" She stomps her foot. "Look at me right now!"

The nonmon begins to raise its blade. The voice of the cloaked man echoes out, "No, what are you doing?! I need them. Stop at once!" The nonmon stops, it's blade halfway up as it begins to shake, straining against itself. "Take them. Those two will be a good place to start…"

Jeri almost to the nonmon, Madi, and Bearmon. "Leomon! I'm here. Don't do it!" She skids as she stops between it and the partners. "Look at me!" She yells, fighting to get its attention.

"Don't do anything that woman says. I am your master, you will listen to me." The voice echoes out again.

"Leomon, I know you can hear me. You have to fight." Tears are still streaming from her eyes, "You told me…I have the heart of a lion." Her voice is breaking as she talks, "Well it's only because you helped me get stronger!"

The nonmon struggles to look down as the voice tells it to stop. "J…..Jerrrri…."

"How are you doing this!?" The voice protests, "I created you. You can't fight me."

The nonmon's voice shakes as it answers its captor, "A very wise girl once told me. You can't escape destiny…."

Jeri smiles, tears still streaming down her face. "It really is him!" She says.

Madi looks up, the nonmon still has its hand halfway up. She looks around, knowing Taomon is out there watching, waiting to strike if she's needed.

Madi looks down at her partner, his eyes still closed. He's intact though, causing her to worry a lot less.

The nonmon continues. "I remember everything. I will use it, I will help that poor digimon you're torturing and I will make sure you never hurt another digimon again." It still strains, but it moves to one knee, putting it's knife hand to the ground. "My Jeri, my brave Jeri. I'm glad I could see you one last time…."

Jeri's expression goes from a smile to shock. "One last time?" She asks quietly, "Leomon, no. I won't let you go this time."

"I have to end this." He says, fully taking over, "I can't be trusted like this. I need you to leave so that I can end everything."

"You, tamer.." He addresses Madi. "I've accessed your phone and given you all the information on this new enemy. I don't know who he is, but I saw enough to hurt him. Please use it to help those digimon that he's experimenting on."

Jeri begins to break down, "Listen to me Leomon!" She dashes forward, hugging him, or his leg, rather. "You can't go! I already lost you once. You can't leave me again! You have to fight for me!" Her digivice, still in her hand starts to glow with her growing sorrow.

The nonmon pushes her off of him. "Jeri, I'm limited in how much I can move." He explains. "If I go with you, I'll turn on you eventually. I'm still connected to him."

Jeri notices her digivice as she looks down. "I won't accept this!" She yells, "You have to fight for me….for us!" She hold her digivice up to show Leomon. "I know it's possible because I can feel it, I know because this digivice is telling me it is!"

The nonmon is still unmoving. He hangs his head, "It's not possible…." He says, "But if anyone could win that fight, it would be you…." He flinches, defying his body. "I'm sorry Jeri, I can't hold this off anymore…" he brings his blade to his chest in a flash, before anyone can make a move.

"No!" Jeri screams in a panic. A beam shoots out from her digivice to the nonmon as fast as his knife. The combination lets a brilliant flash of light loose, a shockwave knocks Jeri back.

The whole area goes quiet. When the light fades, it's revealed that Taomon had returned with Rika, a barrier in place to protect them all again.

"No!" Jeri cries, breaking down. "Not again!" Uncontrollable tears pour down her face as she begins to cry. "You can't be gone again!" She yells.

Madi and Rika embrace her to console her. Calumon hops into her lap, hugging her. "I'm so sorry Jeri…" Calumon 's ears retract, barely visible. Taomon remains quiet in focus, keeping the barrier up.

It's silent for a long time as she cries for her lost partner a second time. Bearmon comes to, looking up at the sight. He knows what happened. Guilt hits him as he realizes it. He hangs his head low, his ears coming down, he could have prevented it. But he couldn't risk losing Madi.

They're interrupted though, a small blob digimon smashing itself against the barrier to look inside. "Jeri! My Jeri!" It cries out happily in a tiny voice.

The three tamers look up, surprised. Jeri's digivice releases a holographic image. Motimon: despite its cute appearance, it holds a lot of knowledge and wisdom.

"Leomon?" Jeri asks, leaning forward and breaking from the other two women. Calumon hops off of her.

"Jeri!" He yells, falling back from the barrier and squishing back to normal size.

Taomon lets down the barrier, allowing Jeri to quickly crawl to her partner. She wraps her arms around him, happy to be with him once more.

Madi looks back to her partner, who sits, looking up at her. He looks small, scared, as he looks her in her eyes. She's angry with him and it shows, causing him to look back down again.


	11. Ch11

It was a quiet drive. Bearmon only looked to the floor of the car. Madi spaced out, thinking as she drove. They weren't far from home, but the trip seemed to stretch on, the air being very thick with angst. After the battle, Bearmon had just got into the car and slumped down while Madi and the others exchanged information. He didn't even say bye to Renamon.

"Are you mad at me?" Bearmon finally asks quietly, looking up at Madi.

She's quiet for several moments, squinting as she watches the road, thinking of how to answer. She finally says, "I don't know what I am."

Bearmon looks at the floor again. "I was only trying to protect you."

Madi answers back immediately, "That's not your job."

"My job?" Bearmon asks, "My job!? I'm your partner, not your employee." He shoots back.

She pulls over, putting her hands to her temples. "Is that what this is about?" She asks, not waiting for an answer. "You think someone is supposed to be in charge?" She starts to raise her voice.

"No, but I'm not here to be ordered around by you either!" He shoots back, raising his voice.

Madi's eyes go wide. "Excuse me?" She is speechless at the accusation. She can't believe he would think that of her.

Bearmon doesn't let back, "I'm your partner, I'm supposed to protect you, especially now!"

Madi's face, eyes still wide, twists into confusion and then realization. "I am NOT some damsel in distress now!" She turns the car off, flinging her seatbelt off, not bothering to grab the key.

"Where are you going?" He asks, unbuckling his.

She steps out, "Away from you!" She slams the door, walking away.

Bearmon follows her, "What, can't handle being called out?" He calls out after her.

"No, can't handle your sudden pigheadedness!" She sneers. "In what reality do I need your protection?" She continues, not letting him answer, "You're not supposed to protect me, you're supposed to have my back and I don't order your around!" She points her finger at him,"I thought we had the same goal, to help people. Like we always do!" She turns her back on him, breathing heavily.

The two just stand there, like statues for the next few moments.

Bearmon is the one to break the silence again. "I can't just do something that will leave you open to getting hurt." No longer yelling.

"You're not supposed to." She answers. "You're supposed to trust I know what I'm doing." She brings her hands to her face, wiping her cheeks before turning back to Bearmon. "Everything we've been through together, and you think that because I'm different now, I'm suddenly incapable?" She asks, defensively.

He doesn't answer. He can't, he doesn't know what to say. She's right. He's been treating her different, afraid she'll get taken from him again.

"Bearmon." She says, softer now, taking a few steps toward him, "You know me better than anyone else. My strength doesn't just come from me. It comes from everyone I love. I'm able to be who I am, because people believe in me. That's includes you too."

The digimon's eyes start to tear up now, "But I don't want to lose you." He says, finally. "It was hard enough when I went back to the Digital World. But at least I knew you were out there. If you get taken, I can't know that. They might kill you."

"They won't," She answers, "as long as you fight alongside me, instead of for me. When we're together, we can't lose."

Bearmon opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. She's right.

The sky, several shades darker than it was a few moments ago, let's out a roar of thunder. Dark clouds moving in, quickly. The wind picks up, like something out of a movie.

The two silently head back to the car, but are suddenly thrown back by a shockwave before them.

Two dark figures stand above them as they land, rolling to a stop.

"Take her." One says, grabbing Madi as she's trying to gain her senses.

Another goes after Bearmon, slamming a fist down at him. He manages to roll out of the way, being knocked away by the shockwave.

"Bearmon,help!" Madi yells, unable to break free from, whatever this thing was.

Bearmon tears forward, trying to get past the obsidian like foes before him. A hand reaches forward, narrowly missing the bear digimon. He hits the ground, running to his friend. "Madi, no!" He jumps to her, holding out a hand to grab hers.

In a brilliant flash of light, everyone is thrown to the ground, their attackers included. Bearmon shakes his head, trying to gain his senses. He can't see anything, but he's surround by something. Leaves?

As his vision clears, he finds himself surrounded by dead corn stalks. He was knocked into a field. He stumbles forward, groggily pushing on. He has to get to Madi, this is what he feared, what he was trying to prevent. They'd have never stopped if he hadn't said what he had.

He finally finds his way out, finding the car, charred earth, and nothing else. "Madi!" He yells, listening for her, the rain starting to come down. As he stumbles forward, he finds her necklace, a heart shaped locket. He clasps it in his hand. "Madi!" He yells louder, more desperate. After tirelessly searching, he returns to the car, drenched. He crawls inside, not sure what to do as he collapses into the seat. He places the necklace in the cup holder, spotting her phone as he does.

Bearmon takes the phone from the dash board, lifting it from the holder. He taps the screen, entering in the pass code. He looks through the phone book, looking for the newest contacts, finding Rika's number. After tapping it, he holds it to his ear. It rings a couple times before picking up. A voice greets him at the other end.

"I need your help. They took Madi!" He says, urgently.


	12. Chapter12

Madi

When Madi came to, she was lying in a bed. She started reflecting, going through the last moment she remembered. Bearmon almost reaching her, a flash of lightning, then nothing. She sat up immediately.

The room she was in was well kept, bland white, but functional. There were no doors, no windows, nothing for her to escape through. She couldn't even find a vent. She reached for her pocket, unsure if she had her phone. She found only empty pockets.

She flung the blanket off of her, leaning over and out of bed. The digivice and card case normally at her hip was on the night stand. She grabbed them as she slowly got out of bed. She started to feel around the walls, looking for some hint of a door. She didn't just teleport here, after all. A voice came from the opposite side of the room, "You won't find anything there." It says, blankly.

Madi jumps, surprised as she turns. The man in the cloak was standing inside a door frame that wasn't there before.

"Where am I? Where's Bearmon?" She asks, trying to give off no emotion.

"He ran off." He answers. "Nowhere to be seen."

"Liar!" She snaps, breathing slowly to regain her composure, "He wouldn't do that." Her tone more calm this time.

He says nothing, only looking on. After a few moments, Madi looks away from him, breaking from the stare. "What do you want from me?" She moves, circling the room.

The cloak hides everything but his mouth, he smirks when he answers, "I don't want anything from you. It's what I want for you."

"Okay fine. Tell me that then." She rolls her eyes.

"In due time." He answers, monotonously.

Madi hunts the room with her eyes, looking for something, anything to use as a weapon. The room is blank. "So I'm bait then?" She asks, trying to open a drawer in a study, it doesn't budge.

"Not at all." He answers, a slight smile in his tone now. "I would say, incomplete. Were you Bearmon's original partner, you'd be ready for what's next. But you haven't biomerged with him yet."

Madi turns, confused at the statement, "How do you mean?" She asks, "Not ready?"

The man makes no effort to hide what he's been doing, "I'm in the process of perfecting evolution for digimon and humans alike." He begins, "The two together make for a stronger being. Once you've biomerged, a transformation takes place, allowing your mind and body to become….transferable."

Her face twists even more in confusion, "You're going to put humans in nonmon bodies?" Her tone is utter shock.

"I call them Paragon, but yes!" He says, joyously. "Even for someone who doesn't know about them, it's the next logical step."

Madi glares at him, "I've seen the results of your work." She says, nearly hissing, "Those things are not the next step. They're slaves." She stomps toward him. "You're not looking to help, you're looking to enslave!"

The man laughs, snapping his fingers, a barrier activating between the two. He answers her visible confusion at the screen between them, "You're in the digital world. I have all the control here."

Bearmon

A car pulled up behind Madi's. Bearmon peaked up to see Rika and Jeri. He opens the door, still a little off balance. The shock from the lightning strike still effecting him. The rain was still coming down when Rika ran up to the door and got in, he moves back to the passenger seat to make room for her.

"Are you okay?" She asks as the back door opens and Renamon steps in.

Bearmon only shakes his head. A few minutes later, they were all on the highway again. Rika driving Madi's car, Jeri driving her own. They made a stop at a gas station, taking shelter from the rain while they tried to figure out what to do.

Rika and Jeri settled on calling Dr. Wong. Renamon, stayed with Bearmon.

"It's not your fault, you know." Renamon says, once Rika was out.

Bearmon just stares at the floor.

"I know you, you wouldn't let this just happen." She continues, "No matter what happened, this is on them."

"They were different." He finally says. "They came straight for us. We were fighting because I was too focused on what I wanted. She was right, if I had been concerned about working with her instead of to protect her, this wouldn't have happened."

The rain starts to lighten up along with the clouds. The two are silent.

"Rika and I fought once." Renamon breaks the silence after a few minutes. "I decided I didn't need her to be the strongest. That I could do it on my own." She sighs, thinking of the memory. "I was wrong. But so was Rika. Stress had gotten to her and she lashed out at me. But when I was fighting a digimon that had bio-emerged, I wasn't nearly as strong without her. I couldn't even fight the same, knowing she wasn't there. But when it started to get bad, she was there for me. We never fought like that again. We realized that…" she trails off, looking at her partner, "we're better together."

Bearmon leans his head against the door. "I may not get that chance." He says. "They took her from me. There's no telling what's going to happen now."

"There is." His friend says, calmly. "You're going stop feeling sorry for yourself, stand up, and go help your girl." Her tone matter of fact.

"Easy for you to-" Renamon cuts him off.

"Anything other than agreement means you don't care." She says harshly. "That girl is your partner. You're connected to one another. You're better together and you will stop at nothing to be there for her." She lectures, her words stinging with every syllable.

Rika opens the door, getting in. "We have to move fast. Dr. Wong picked the nonmon up on radar, but he also picked up a portal." She starts the car. "This weather is from it being created and then the nonmon bio-emerging."

The rain stops, nearly suddenly as the clouds start to disappear.

Bearmon sits up, straightening his hat. He grabs the necklace from the cup holder, wrapping the chain around his left arm straps. "Let's go get Madi." He says, hope filling him once more.

Renamon closes her eyes, smiling.


	13. Chapter13

Madi

"There has to be some way out of here…" She mutters, studying the room as she turns. Irritated, she sits on the bed. "I'm not some damsel in distress now…" she mocks herself. She takes a deep breath, pulling out her digivice. Nothing looked any different about it, and that was comforting. She started to tap the buttons on it, attempting to see if there was anything else it could do. It never showed anything before, but she'd never been to the digital world before.

It seemed like it had been hours since she'd woken up. By the clock function on the digivice, it has only been about a half hour. In frustration, Madi hit all the buttons and threw the digivice behind her, letting out a muffled thud as it hit the pillow. She laid back, slamming herself into the bed. "This is stupid!" She yells. "You're the worst protagonist ever!" She tries to provoke, only met with silence.

She reaches above her, feeling around until she found her digivice, and sits up. When she looked to the screen again, it reads:

'identity authenticated: tamer/human/digidestined.madi

digivice:command_protocol-digital world

Please_say_a_command'

Madi blinked, unsure what she was looking at. Did she break it? "Uh, find Bearmon?" She tries. It answers back with more text.

'Command_uh find bearmon_ recognized. Searching….bearmon not found in digital world

Please_say_a_command'

Madi tilted her head, unsure of what to do. "List functions."

'Command_not_recognized' it reads.

Madi sat on the bed, thinking for a while. Her digivice seemed to hold more function here. In her desperation, she managed to figure it out. She just wasn't sure how to apply it. She needed to know what it would effect. She had an ideas, "Dim lights." She says to the digivice.

'Command_dimlights….recognized….please_say_how_

dim'

Madi grinned, "50%" she orders.

'Dimming lights 50%' the display reads. As it appears on the device, the room grows dim. The light a little more gentle.

Her eyes go wide. She stumbled onto her key out of here. She walks to the area where her captor had opened the door before. "Open door." She commands, holding the digivice at her side. In an instant, the door opened, on the other side was the man in the cloak. He looks down on her, "Come with me." He demands bluntly.

Madi wasn't sure if what she did worked. As the man walks away, she follows. She glances quickly at her digivice, the command confirmed on the screen. Was he waiting for this or was her timing perfect for when he opened the door. Her heart pounds as she takes each step, not sure what is about to happen. The walls of the hallway look exactly like the inside of the room she was in. .

She's led into another room, larger than the last. Computers line one of the walls, a rail at the opposite side of the door, revealing this to be a second floor. The figure moves forward, Madi is looking around the room at the nonmon at the computers working. There's a nudge behind her, two nonmon on the inside of the door that she hadn't noticed.

She walks forward, joining the man at the rails. "Leave her." He commands the two nonmon that had trailed her. "She's my guest."

Looking to the bottom floor, there were several spheres, all containing digimon. "This is where we have been doing our research." The man explains, "Each one of them destined for evolution."

Madi's stomach turned at the thought of what he meant.

"We discovered that the process will destroy the original body in the process. However, thanks to the one over there, we've made a breakthrough that digidestined are different. Their code doesn't allow for copying or transfer." He gestures to a sphere that has a digimon that looked like a devil child inside.

"Come ta torture me some more huh!" He yells, looking to Madi, "Hope you feel real tough bringing her in as an audience!"

"Impmon has been valuable for our research." He ignores, "He's loaded several digimon. Though many of them were lost in the battle against the D Reaper, he still had several hundreds of files to use." He sounds proud of what he's done, adding, "Our last surprise was finding he'd loaded another tamer's partner. I believe you met him before his tamer had managed to revert him back to his unevolved state." He knew for a fact that they'd met.

"You're sick." Madi says, disgust in her tone. "They don't deserve this." She clenches her jaw, angry at the sight.

"Mute." He says, the sounds from Impmon's sphere trapped in with him. "They've said that about several different people. Scientists, doctors, even transgender people."

Madi's heart stops, she tries not to show it, but it comes through nonetheless.

He continues. "I finally figured out that you are Bearmon's original tamer. All because of someone who didn't think you should have transitioned. It surprised me, I'll admit, but my entire project is about leading people to being their best selves. People like you inspire what I'm doing here."

Madi's breathing picks up, she's the target now. "I'll fight back." She warns. "I'll find a way. If that girl's partner could do it, I will too."

The cloaked man turns to her now, "Why would you resist this?" He asks, troubled. "Can't you see? I can make you perfect. I can give you the body you should have."

Madi turns to him, glaring up at the void hidden in the hood of his cloak. "But I'd never be happy. I'd never be free." She tightens her grip on her digivice. "And I don't need you, I'm already perfect!" In a flash, Madi attacks. She rushes forward, pushing the man backwards. The surprise of it knocking him to the ground. Several nonmon turn, some heading to help their leader, some to stop her. She climbs over the rail, having no choice but to jump. When she lands, it feels different. The height of the jump should have hurt, but it didn't. The digimon in the spheres all look to her, she notices two more spheres, hidden in the corner. A boy and a girl. One has a digivice as well, the girl. Madi holds out her digivice quickly, "Open all containment spheres!" The spheres all open nearly instantly.

Two nonmon land directly behind Madi, prompting her to run to the spheres in hopes that the newly freed digimon can fight back. She's not fast enough for the closest one, she turns just in time to see its opened jaws coming for her arm!

"Bada boom!" Impmon yells, nailing the nonmon in the face before it can get Madi.

"Yeah!" The girl says, "Great job Impmon!" The boy. The two humans run to their friend's side.

"I hate to break this reunion short, but we're in a fight here!"

"Right!" They say in unison. The girl lifts the digivice up, the boy's hand joining hers around the digivice "Digivolve!"

A brilliant flash of light comes from Impmon as he digivolve a into a large, demon digimon. "Impmon digivolve to! Beelzemon!" He grins at the nonmon before him. "Now ya jerks are gonna pay!" He holds out his arm, which appears to be a giant cannon. It pops open on the top and bottom, revealing a charging energy blast.

"Ya have ta get everyone out of here now!" He yells. "This might be our only chance!"

Madi runs over to a closed door, "This way!" She yells to the others. "Open door!" She yells, the doors opening up to reveal another hallway. The digimon all follow, running through as Madi waits.

"Corona blaster!" The mega level digimon fires, destroying the nonmon instantly. He looks up, the cloaked man staring down, his arm held to his side to signal to his creations not to move. "Oh have I got somethin' for you!" He raises his arm, anxious about the revenge to be had.

His tamers run to him, "Impmon, no! We have to go!" They say hurriedly.

He doesn't break his gaze with his former captor. "Ai, Mako…you have to go without me. I can't let this jerk hurt anyone else."

"But what if he comes after us again?" The girl, Ai asks.

"Yeah, he's too strong!" Her brother says.

He grumbles, "Hmph!" Knowing they're right, he starts to back toward the door.

Madi moves to the inside of the door, waiting for the trio to get through with her and the other digimon.

As Ai and Mako come through, Bellzemon stops, waving his gun in the air, making a pentagon, "Corona destroyer!" He yells, blasting through the traced shape.

An explosion from the impact as Madi closes the door with another command. Everyone is looking to her now. "Anyone know they way out?" She asks.


	14. Chapter14

Bearmon

Bearmon watched as Rika drove into an empty field. It looked plain, ordinary, and nearly untouched. Her and Jeri followed a long dirt road that lead through the woods. They slowed as they neared an area that had a few small hills. There was a van with antenna and satellites on top parked near a large hill. They stopped behind it, putting the cars into park.

"These are some friends of ours." Rika tells Bearmon, "If we have any chance of finding Madi, it's with them."

The three get out of the car, Bearmon turns, looking to see Jeri, Calumon, and Motimon joining them. As he turns back to the van, following Rika and Renamon, a small digimon with long ears and a horn peeks out.

"Henry! The slackers are here!" it yells, walking out the rest of the way to greet Renamon and Bearmon. "Together again!"

Bearmon gives a faint smile, "Good to see you."

Henry, Terriermon's tamer comes around the side of the van, "Oh great, you guys made it! Takato and Guilmon are over helping my dad. They found the portal, but it's different, somehow."

"Yeah, it's letting off this creepy green glow!" Terriermon adds, "Like it leads to the land of the dead or something!"

Bearmon cringes at the thought as Henry scolds his partner, "Terriermon, you can't just say things like that. We're trying to find Bearmon's tamer in there!"

Rika shakes her head, "You guys never change." The group follows as she walks past Henry to get to the other side of the van.

Dr. Wong and Takato were looking at a laptop. The screen showed the barrier to the digital world.

"That looks like where we started." The young man, with him says. "That's where we first met the digi-gnomes." He turns to see Rika, smiling and waving. "Hey!"

"Where's Guilmon?" Rika asks, looking around. No sooner had she asked, there was a commotion from inside the van, Guilmon falling out with a bag of bread in hand and a loaf in his mouth.

Bearmon, happy to see another friend runs over and helps Guilmon up. The red dinosaur tries to speak but is stopped by the bread in his mouth. He finishes eating it quickly and swallows. "Sorry to hear about your partner Bearmon. We're going to find her."

Takato stands, rubbing the back of his neck, "So you all know each other already?" he asks.

"Uh huh!" Guilmon answers. "We've been trying to hold the nonmon back since they started to attack. Beamon met up with us when a group tried to take out an entire village of baby digimon.

The group catches everyone up on what's happened on both sides. Motimon was welcomed back in the group, everyone surprised to see an old friend come back to life. Jeri and he were inseparable. They all sat around a campfire, a group of friends together again. Bearmon looked around from his seat on the log he claimed. Him and Madi were on their own when they were fighting the digimon that came through. These four had each other. Dr. Wong's drone was scanning the whole time the group was catching up.

"It seems that this area is different than you all described before." Dr. Wong explains, "There is a series of extra portals inside leading to different areas of the digital world. As it stands, only one has been accessed recently. I'd guess that's where they're holding Bearmon's tamer."

"Then what are we waiting for!?" Bearmon stands, stepping toward the portal.

"We can't just rush in." Henry explains, "We don't know what we're in for, and we have more that can help us."

Renamon adds in, "If we just run in without a plan, it may make things worse for her too."

Bearmon frowns, knowing they're right. He looks at the portal one last time, before turning back to the group.

"The others should be close." Takato says, "We sent them a list of supplies to gather. We don't want to get stuck in the digital world again. This is a rescue. We need to get in, get your tamer, and get out. You're our friends now, we're going to do everything we can."

Madi

With a few more controls, Madi had the base working with her and against the army of nonmon. Though no one knew the facility, the digivice allowed them to open all the doors that led to the exit, closing the ones that didn't. Any stragglers caught in the open corridors were quickly dispatched by Beelzemon without hesitation.

"Serves these losers right for what they've been putting us all through…." He walks through the fading nonmon to check the corner. The digimon with them were all young, they barely knew how to fight, yet they were huddled around Madi, ready to fight to protect her. Ai and Mako stayed close to their partner. They seemed to switch off their cards and digivice here and there. Each holding one or the other.

Finally, they found a light at the end of the hallway. They picked up the pace, making their way to the exit quickly. However, there was a loud banging noise coming from each locked door as they got closer.

"Go on ahead!" Madi tells the digimon around her, trying to get them out first.

A gekomon protests, "We'll get out when you do."

"I can move faster if you all get ahead of me. I'm afraid to step on one of you."

Reluctantly, the group leaves her, running ahead. Madi catches up with Ai and Mako as the group passes up Beelzemon.

"We're almost there!" He says, the banging around them getting louder.

Beelzemon passes the last door in the hall, followed by his tamers, then Madi. A door explodes out, sending the three humans to the ground. Beelzemon turns to see the cloaked man step out with several of the obsidian nonmon behind him.

"Almost made it." He says, taunting them. He looks behind Beelzemon to the digimon that were out the door, frowning. "No matter, you're the one that's going to help me repair the digital world my friend."

Ai and Mako stand as their partner takes a few steps forward to protect them. "I ain't helpin ya to do nothin' ya two bit creep!" he narrows his blaster at the group.

Madi looks up to see the standoff. She climbs up, looking to her digivce. "Load door!" she yells holding it out before her to block off their challengers. Nothing happens. Confused, Madi looks to her digivice. The commands took, but they didn't complete. She repeats herself, still nothing happens.

The man in the cloak chuckles, "I had a feeling you might try something like that when we caught up with you. So, I shut down the base control systems. They won't listen to you now."


	15. Ch15

Madi

The team of four were trapped, the exit behind them, but their pursuers too close to flee from. Madi, standing ahead of Beelzemon, didn't budge. She stares the man down, right at the space his eyes should be.

"Let them go and I'll come quietly." she says, breaking the aggressively stale air between them.

The cloaked man smirks, "You think you're that valuable?"

Beelzemon watches, using the time to try and find a way out of this. Ai and Mako are huddled just behind him, ready to keep fighting. As Madi gives her offer, he objects, "I ain't leavin you behind!"

"You wouldn't be chasing me down if I weren't." She ignores the towering mega behind her.

The silence is deafening, Beelzemon growls, not willing to just walk away. "Listen here princess!" he snaps, "You risked yourself for me. You put your life on the line to help me. I'm not about to be responsible for another good person suffering. Get back here with us right now or I'll drag you out of here by your hair if I have ta!"

"Very well." the cloaked man says. "Your friends are free to go."

Beelzemon grunts, unapprovingly.

Madi turns her back on the man, slowly walking toward Beelzemon. He smirks at his former captor, knowing he just took something from him now. Madi stops, short of the digimon she barely knew. "It's okay." she says. "I can take it." she has tears welling up in her eyes. "It's worth it to keep you from suffering again."

The demon lord digimon is slapped by her words. She didn't know him, here she was trying to take care of him, save him. She was powerless, yet here she was taking control of the situation, fighting for the digimon she'd just freed. Fighting for him.

"I'm not tradin my freedom for yours sweetheart. We're leaving here together!" His cannon opened as it began to charge. "Now get behind me! He raises his arm, firing his corona destroyer at the man. The attack rockets forward, flying over Madi's head as she ducks. The blast makes a direct hit, yet the man just stands there grinning, not phased by the attack. His smirk grows to a smile, then laughter.

"You really think I wouldn't be prepared for that?" he asks. He steps forward, his nonmon legion still as he does. "Madi, you may want to get out of the way." he warns her.

Madi doesn't move, "We had a deal." she stands tall again, not moving.

"No ya didn't, let's get outa here!" Beelzemon growls.

The man stops, raising his arms, "That was nullified when your 'friend' attacked me." he sneers, energy begins to form between the man's outstretch hands. Power pushing out from it in the area.

Madi doesn't move, Beelzemon rushes forward to grab her. If he could move fast enough, he could turn, grabbing his tamers and rush for the exit. The attack came too quickly. It rushed forward as Beelzemon's out stretched hand came inches from Madi. She brings up her digivice, yelling "Shield!" a blue wave of light comes from it in response, protecting the four from the attack.

The damage to the building was great. But as the dust began to clear, there was no sign of the three humans and the digimon. The roar of a motorcycle could be heard. The man steps forward to where Madi was standing, just moments ago. Her digivice lays on the ground, falling apart pixel by pixel. As he reaches for the last of it, his hand goes through the energy that remains, the digivice fading to nothing. The man frowns,

"Pity..."

Beelzemon had the three humans squished on his motorcycle, moving as fast as it would go away from the hell he'd been imprisoned in. Madi was unconscious. Ai and Mako held on to her, letting their partner drive. He wasn't sure where he could go, or where he was even.

Bearmon

The other tamers that were with the group had arrived. Kenta and Kazu, along with their partners, MarineAngemon and Guardromon. They had a giant rental truck to house every one. As the door to the rear of the truck came up, the tank like Guardromon stepped forward, hopping down from the truck. The landing sending a shock through the ground. The suspension pushed the truck back up, letting out a groan of relief. MarineAngemon, the tiny little digimon, stuck close to Kenta at all times. There was a surprise in the truck though, three more tamers and their partners. The ones that Madi and Bearmon had met early on.

It was an awkward reunion, Bearmon didn't say a lot. Once things had settled down, everyone started to break out their sleeping bags near the fire. Bearmon didn't sleep. Instead, he climbed up on top of Dr. Wong's van, looking up at the stars. Him and Madi used to do this when she was younger. They had a shed that was easy to get on top of. Looking up at the stars, thinking of his best friend, that's what relaxed him enough to close his eyes and drift off.

Bearmon suddenly found himself in a field. Madi was sitting on a tree stump, looking at him. Her expression was blank. As Bearmon started toward her, his tamer's appearance started to shift. Her face changed, the hair getting shorter, her shoulders getting a little wider. As Bearmon reached her, she wasn't the same. She wasn't Madi anymore, she was Matt.

"Hey..." Matt said blankly.

Bearmon, confused, answered back. "Hi. What's...going on?" he asked.

Matt looked in his direction, but it was as if he was looking right through him. "You forgot me..." he says lowly. "All that time, and you gave up on me.".

Bearmon looks up in horror, "No I didn't!" he objects.

"You decided to go with her." Matt answers, accusingly, "You left me, forgot all about me. Decided you needed to protect her instead of just be with me." he stands, lunging for the digimon, wrapping his hands around the his neck. "But you won't leave me now. You're my digimon again. You'll never leave me again. You'll never forget me again." The dull, haunting voice rings out.

Bearmon reached to pull Matt's hands from his neck, but they don't budge. He opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. He cant get out any words.

The little bear's code starts to give in to the attack, pixels of his vision turning black, little by little. But suddenly, his neck is freed. He lays on the ground, his chest rising up and down. His vision starts to come back into focus and then, he hears her voice.

"Bearmon!" it's Madi.

He jumps to his feet, stumbling as he reaches an upright position. Madi is there, fighting Matt. He has both her wrist and starts pushing her back.

"You took him from me. You'll never take him from me again!" his voice grows louder and louder as he speaks, "He's my digimon! You're a fake!"

Madi is slammed against the tree trunk, which has grown to the size of a house. She gasps from the pain of being pinned to it. "I don't know what you are, but you will NOT HURT MY FRIEND!" She yells, kicking his shin. He doesn't move, doesn't budge, until he starts to laugh in a low, ominous, tone. The laughter grows and turns to a maniacal, deep cackle.

"I am going to enjoy killing you Madi!" he says, "Just like you killed me."

The words sting, hitting right where they would do the most damage. Madi had felt some guilt over transition. She did lose family and friends over it, but she wouldn't allow that to stop her. She told herself that she didn't lose them, they lost her.

Madi can't move, her struggle ceasing at the attack of her former self. Matt pulls a leg back, preparing a new assault on the woman. Before he can connect, however, Bearmon intervenes. The digimon attacks the fake with a bear roll attack, freeing Madi, who collapses to her knees.

"Don't listen to him." Bearmon says, "He's not real."

Madi looks up, tears in her eyes. "Is it really you?" she asks, curious if this is more than a dream.

"Yes." he says, reaching a paw up to wipe a tear from her cheek. "Sorry we got separated."

The tamer lunges forward, hugging her partner. "I was so worried!" she yells in relief. "I thought I'd lost you forever!"

Bearmon squeezes her back, looking over to the victim of his attack. "Madi, I don't think we're done here." he whispers.

She nods, pulling back. "I know, sorry." she smiles, turning her head to look at her former self as well. "What is that?"

Bearmon shrugs, "I'm not sure." he answers. "Honestly, I'm not even sure how this is possible. You shouldn't be able to be in my dreams." an idea hits him, "Unless, you're data. You're in the digital world. This is our connection doing this!"

"I don't know where I am right now." she confirms, but yeah. "We were fighting that man that showed up as a projection. I shielded a friend from his attack and then I don't remember anything. It must have knocked me out."

The digimon looks back to his friend, their eyes meeting again, "I'm going to kill him." he says darkly.

Madi's shoulders drop at this tone, "Hey, no more of that kind of talk!" she yells, seeing him snap out of the dark thoughts. "You fight, I fight."

"You fight, I fight." He answers back.

She stands as they both face the doppelganger. He stands as Madi does, his body looking disfigured, bones appearing to crack. His hair turns white and grows out, wings stretch out from his back, his body takes a more muscular and prismatic form. He looks like a nonmon now. "It would appear the master has underestimated the both of you." He says, his voice much deeper than before. "I am Project Morpheus. Bringer of nightmares and your deaths."


	16. Ch16

Chapter 16

There was a thickness in the air, the partners noticing that it was getting harder to move. They glanced at one another again, before staring this nonmon down.

"What do you want to do?" Madi asks.

"He won't touch you." he growls, his pupils a pin drop as his lips quiver into a snarl, he focuses in on the nonmon.

Madi opens her mouth to protest, but nothing comes out. Before, she was able to move just fine, she was trying to help Bearmon. But now there was nothing keeping away the feeling of walking through sand.

Bearmon groggily shoots forward, rushing Morpheus. A blood curdling roar comes from him as he pounces on his target. He bites down on it's neck, feeling a crunch between his teeth as his jaw closes. A moment later, he looks to the ground, seeing a broken tree limb. He turns back to Madi, confused.

Morpheus's voice echoes through the dream land, "Yes master, I see it now." Madi and Bearmon look around, not spotting anything. "I've received the code..."

Madi takes a few steps forward, squinting as she looks around. The attack happens in an instant. Madi is scooped up into the now giant claws of the nonmon. It closes Madi in its claws as it continues to grow.

Bearmon, too far away, watched helplessly as the beast rose from the ground, taking his partner.

"Shhhhhhh..." Morpheus tries to soothe her, "It's okay little one. You'll never be defenseless again."

He begins to glow, a low hum coming from it's body.

"Bearmon! Digivolve!" Madi yells, pain coursing through her entire body.

"There's no need my sister. You will be the first of a new generation, just as I was." Morpheus says as he bursts and fractures into pieces. As Madi floats there in the air, she glows, an ominous red light coming from her.

Bearmon watches, paralyzed by the effects of the now nightmare. He tries to run to her, but can barely move. "Madi!" he yells, desperately.

"Bearmon help!!!!" Madi cries out, as whatever is happening continues. The light begins to dim as she slowly descends to the ground. She falls to her hands and knees, unsure of what is happening.

Bearmon tries to get to Madi, but he can't seem to make it to his friend. He fails to pickup the pace as she looks up, stretching a hand out to him. She's calling his name, but he can't hear her now.

Bearmon sits up in a flash as he snaps out of the dream. "Madi!" his hand out stretched, he looks down his arm, then around. He's back in the camp. Looking around, everyone is asleep. He stands, quietly moving past the group to make his way to the portal.

A few moments later, Bearmon is bathed in the green glow of the portal. He has to help her. That wasn't a dream, he just knew it. He had to get to her and help. He slowly reaches out for the portal.

"Bearmon?" a voice interrupts.

Bearmon turns his head to see Guilmon's eyes staring him down.

"I have to get to her." he answers, dropping his hand. "I had a dream, and it wasn't just a dream. It was real and she's in trouble. I couldn't save her. I have to go to her!" he whispers frantically.

"But we don't know where you'll end up." Guilmon objects, "We should wait for Henry's dad to figure it out."

"I'm not waiting Guilmon. She needs me." he brings his hand back up, "I'm sorry."

In an instant, Guilmon dives toward Bearmon, tackling and pushing him away from the portal. The two roll on the ground, Bearmon pushes himself out of Guilmon's grasp. The two come to their feet, Bearmon taking a stance.

"How dare you!" he growls, his pupils dialate as he focuses in on his friend. "Get...out...of my way..." he warns in a eerie voice.

Guilmon stands his ground, "You need help. You can't help her on your own. What are you going to do when you get to her? How are you going to get away?" he asks, trying to calm him. Bearmon only answering with a low growl.

Renamon's voice comes out of the shadows, "Never thought Guilmon would be the one making sense." she teases, coming up beside the red dinosaur.

Bearmon looks between the two of them, then past Guilmon. With a huff, he drops his stance. "They have her." he says, defeat in his voice. "I can't sit and do nothing..."

"You haven't." Renamon says, "You're getting help. Your being smart. You're making sure you can get her back when you find her."

Bearmon falls back, as he'd been slapped. She was right, he knew it. He lays back, looking up at the sky, saying nothing the rest of the night.


End file.
